Government Relations & Washington Update
May 2024
AAEA Meets with NASS Leadership to Discuss Program Changes
On April 25th, AAEA representatives met with leadership of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to discuss recently announced program changes. Among the changes are the discontinuation of the July Cattle report and the Cotton Objective Yield Survey, as well as all County Estimates for Crops and Livestock beginning with the 2024 production year. NASS stressed that the decision to discontinue these surveys and reports was not made lightly, but was necessary, given appropriated budget levels for fiscal year 2024. In addition, NASS has announced changes for the following programs: Citrus, Field Crops, Livestock, Mushrooms, Noncitrus Fruit and Tree Nut and Vegetables. In many cases, the program changes include a reduction in the number of individual states that will be reported. The non-published states will be accounted for as “Other States”. AAEA reiterated its support for NASS and the critical importance of NASS data, while sharing concerns with NASS leadership about the impacts of the survey discontinuations and program changes.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Eyes Farm Bill Action in May
House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson (R-PA) has indicated his plans to move the Farm Bill through committee by Memorial Day. Thompson has been working to identify ways to strengthen the farm safety net without redirecting funds from nutrition programs or conservation spending from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). In recent statements, Thompson has reaffirmed that the bill would not cut, decrease, or impact SNAP benefits or eligibility. He has also stated that IRA funds would stay in the Conservation Title of the Farm Bill. It is hoped that these assurances will enable bipartisan support in the committee. However, it is uncertain if Democrats will go along with changes being considered to the Commodity Credit Corporation that would enable provisions to strengthen the farm safety net. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman has already expressed some skepticism with the approach. The Senate is not expected to move on the Farm Bill until the House has acted.
ERS Publishes US and Global Macroeconomic Projections
In April, the Economic Research Service (ERS) published its International Macroeconomic Data Set that provides historical and 10-year projected macroeconomic variables for 181 countries, as well as regional and income groupings, that account for more than 99 percent of the world economy. The main macroeconomic variables include the real gross domestic product (real GDP), consumer price index (CPI), real exchange rates, and population. These indicators serve as the benchmark for the annual USDA Baseline agricultural supply and demand projections, which provide a 10-year outlook on U.S. and global agricultural variables. Additionally, these projections relay information on the overall health of international economies and provide economic analysis of the present state of the global economy.
NASS Administrator Hamer Retires
After more than 44 years with NASS, Hubert Hamer retired on March 31st. Appointed as NASS Administrator in 2016, Hamer brought experience in all aspects of the agency’s work. Before becoming Administrator, he served as Director of the Statistics Division, which produces and releases more than 400 national statistical reports each year covering the agency’s crops, livestock, economic, demographic, environmental and census programs. He also served as Executive Director of the NASS Agricultural Statistics Board and Executive Director of the Advisory Committee on Agriculture Statistics, as well as the Chair of the Agricultural Statistics Board from 2010-2016.
NASS’s Associate Administrator, Joseph L. Parsons, has assumed the role of Acting Administrator, and beginning May 1, Joseph J. Prusacki, NASS’s National Operations Division Director, will assume the role of Acting Associate Administrator. Parsons was named Associate Administrator in 2023, where he was responsible for oversight and coordination of agency operations and the agricultural statistics program carried out within the various organizational units in NASS. He formerly served as Chair of USDA’s Agricultural Statistics Board and director of the NASS Methodology Division.